By John Fay
Enquirer staff writer

PITTSBURGH - Reds manager Dave Miley planned to give Barry Larkin time off Sunday as part of the normal day-game-after-a-night-game routine.

But Larkin could not have played if Miley wanted to use him. Larkin was too sore from a strained left oblique muscle he suffered Saturday night.

Larkin is listed day-to-day. The Reds are not ruling out putting him on the disabled list.

"These things don't show their true selves until 24 to 48 hours," trainer Mark Mann said. "He'll be examined by Dr. (Tim) Kremchek (today)."

Said Larkin: "It feels like a cramp under my rib cage."

Does he think he'll end up on the disabled list?

"I hope not," he said.

A similar injury kept second baseman D'Angelo Jimenez out for six games in June. Jimenez was able to return faster because he's a switch-hitter and he could hit exclusively from the left side.

The Reds were deeper in middle infielders at the time, including Felipe Lopez.

With Larkin out, the Reds' only true shortstop is Juan Castro.

Jimenez can play there too. The Reds even used Tim Hummel there after Larkin was hurt Saturday.

If the Reds have to make a move, it won't involve shortstop Ray Olmedo. Olmedo, who began the year with Cincinnati, is on the DL.

Olmedo is hitting .299 at Triple-A Louisville and he is more reliable defensively than Lopez, who is hitting .273 with nine home runs and 44 RBI.

Reds center fielder Jason Romano, center, is helped to the dugout by teammates Aaron Harang, left, and Paul Wilson (40) after injuring himself chasing down a first-inning double by Pittsburgh's Jason Bay. (AP photo/Gene J. Puskar)

MORE BAD NEWS: Jason Romano had to leave Sunday's game after straining his right hamstring chasing a ball in the first inning.

Romano will have an MRI today. The injury almost certainly will put him on the DL.

"I would think so," Mann said. "We'll know better about how long after he has the MRI."

The simple solution would be to activate Ken Griffey Jr., since he's eligible to come off the DL today.

"Based on what the medical people have conveyed to me I would say that's highly unlikely," general manager Dan O'Brien said.

Griffey is scheduled to be examined by Kremchek and then work out for the coaches today.

The Reds don't have another outfielder on their 40-man roster. One possibility is to bring up Jermaine Clark from Louisville.

SKID OVER: Hummel, who came into replace Romano, broke an 0-for-18 drought with a single in the fourth inning Sunday.

RICKY REACTION: The Reds were stunned about the news that Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams had retired.

"No way," Javier Valentin said. "He's stupid."

Williams almost became a Red 1999 - or at least the Reds nearly drafted his rights.

The Reds even had a "Williams" uniform made. But the Texas Rangers took Williams before the Reds did.

FARM REPORT: Louisville had to use Brian Reith in Saturday's 3-1 loss to Rochester.

Reith pitched well - three innings, one earned run. The Bats are short on starters because of the promotion of Brandon Claussen and Jesus Sanchez opting for free agency.

REDS FACT: Wily Mo Pena's home run against the Pirates on Sunday was his eighth in his last 14 games.

Reds statistics

(Through Sunday's game)

BATTERS	AVG	OBA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	E
Casey	.342	.397	330	62	113	30	1	16	61	27	22	1	0	4
Larkin	.300	.352	290	52	87	13	3	6	36	25	34	2	0	4
Pena	.286	.343	196	23	56	5	1	15	39	14	61	3	1	3
Freel	.272	.368	312	39	85	11	5	1	16	38	53	19	7	9
Dunn	.265	.402	336	60	89	19	0	26	58	73	120	4	0	3
Jimenez	.264	.366	341	47	90	16	2	6	35	55	55	9	6	4
Castro	.262	.294	168	21	44	15	1	1	11	8	28	0	0	6
LaRue	.255	.340	247	32	63	13	1	12	35	18	64	0	2	7
Griffey	.251	.350	295	48	74	17	0	20	60	44	65	1	0	1
Vander Wal	.250	.308	12	1	3	1	0	1	2	1	4	0	0	0
Hummel	.242	.283	99	9	24	4	0	1	7	5	16	1	0	3
Cruz	.231	.298	104	15	24	5	0	2	19	8	31	0	0	0
Larson	.212	.304	118	13	25	6	0	3	14	14	35	1	0	5
Kearns	.195	.327	87	10	17	2	1	3	13	16	30	1	1	1
Valentin	.190	.246	126	13	24	5	0	5	13	9	19	0	0	4
Romano	.154	.214	26	3	4	0	0	1	3	2	10	0	0	0
Team Totals	.254	.336	3351	461	850	169	15	119	436	375	776	43	17	60

PITCHERS	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO
Graves	1	4	3.40	52	0	34	53.0	56	25	20	10	5	31
Wilson	9	2	3.71	19	19	0	121.1	125	53	50	15	40	81
Jones	8	2	3.88	50	0	1	55.2	47	25	24	4	25	37
Riedling	4	2	4.13	47	0	0	52.1	50	29	24	4	23	30
White	0	1	4.24	16	0	0	17.0	14	8	8	5	2	14
Harang	6	3	4.62	16	16	0	89.2	107	47	46	8	33	73
Norton	1	2	5.03	42	0	0	39.1	39	25	22	3	20	26
Lidle	6	8	5.18	21	21	0	132.0	142	78	76	17	36	84
Claussen	1	0	5.23	2	2	0	10.1	12	7	6	2	2	5
Van Poppel	3	5	5.45	23	10	0	79.1	90	48	48	12	14	51
Acevedo	4	9	6.09	20	20	0	109.1	128	75	74	21	31	85
Wagner	2	1	7.04	24	0	0	23.0	36	22	18	4	15	13
Matthews	2	1	8.84	22	0	0	18.1	23	19	18	6	10	8
Team Totals	50	49	5.11	99	99	35	875.2	967	531	497	128	308	592